Askren Blasts Covington As A 'Terrible Human Being'

Ben Askren returned to wrestling last weekend, a year after a severe pneumonia diagnosis that left him fighting for his life and required a double-lung transplant.

Colby Covington called him a "dead guy with rented lungs." Askren responded to the comments this week, and while he stopped short of escalating the feud, he did not pull his punch in describing what he thinks of Covington.

"I try not to hold grudges, but Colby just rubs me the wrong way because he doesn't say good things about people. I think a lot of the things he does are just kind of gross. He can choose to do that, but I'm probably not going to interact with him because I just don't see the point,” Askren

The lung transplant comment was not the only thing Askren took issue with. Covington used his RAF 11 post-fight press conference following his cruiserweight championship win over Arman Tsarukyan to make comments about Belal Muhammad's wife — a line Askren found significantly harder to excuse than the standard trash talk that surrounds combat sports competition.

"If you watched what he said at the press conference on Friday about Belal, and specifically about Belal's wife, it was gross. It was just terrible human being stuff. We're in show business, and I get the whole trash-talking thing, but don't bring Belal's wife into it,” Askren

Askren’s objection is specific: personal attacks on family members, and mockery of a man's near-death experience and medical condition, fall outside what he considers acceptable even within the permissive boundaries of fight promotion.

Covington won the inaugural RAF Crossover Cruiserweight championship with a disciplined decision over Tsarukyan, a result that adds competitive credibility to his post-UFC career. He called out Khamzat Chimaev, Belal Muhammad, and Tyron Woodley afterward, but his antics continue to divide opinion.